


Yeah, Nico Liked Happy

by Rory_writes



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Cute, Fluff, M/M, Nico deserves happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:47:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26282887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rory_writes/pseuds/Rory_writes
Summary: After three days of rest in the infirmary, Nico is grateful to be able to walk around the camp grounds.Taking an unexpected detour to the strawberry fields, Nico finds Will on his break, relaxing in the early morning sun.Cute and fluffy moments ensue, as does first kisses!
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Solangelo - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 112





	Yeah, Nico Liked Happy

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic you meet Rosa, a daughter of Apollo, who is based off an awesome OC that you can find on TikTok (@simpingfor_wisegirl). She is a really fun character and the creator has some incredible videos up on their TikTok (not just of Rosa, but in general) so please go have a look!   
> I have used the character with permission from the creator! 
> 
> As always, this fic is not beta read because I do not have a beta, I also have never published Riordanverse fics before, so this is new for me! I hope you enjoy though, I thought it was fun <3

Nico threw his covers off, kicking them until they fell off the end of the bed he’d been using in the infirmary for the past three days. It was finally time for him to get out of his sickbed and do something; he didn’t even care what, he just wanted to be able to do anything. It had been mortifying to let Will Solace look after him for a few days. It had been nice too, sometimes, when the leggy blonde would make Nico scoot over and sit next to him on the narrow cot bed. They’d sit shoulder to shoulder and talk, which was a new experience for Nico, but he liked it. Will was kind and funny, and sometimes Nico would find himself smiling without realising it, his cheeks pink and warm. It had not been fun when Will had thought Nico’s blush was the symptom of a fever and took his temperature, only to realise Nico was just a fool. That had been the first night though, after Nico had gotten over his sulk at needing to be there, and it had gotten easier after that. 

“Where are you going di Angelo?” Kayla asked, shaking her head at him. She was sweet, and a talented archer, and she took the earl morning shift in the infirmary to learn some of the healing skills that Will and their sister Rosa excelled at. Will was the head counsellor of Apollo cabin, and one of leading healers at Camp Half-Blood, but he still needed to rest and leave the infirmary in the hands of his siblings. Once, out of the three nights Nico had been there, Will had fallen asleep with his head on Nico’s shoulder. Nico hadn’t moved a muscle the entire time he napped, but when a nightmare startled Will awake, Nico jumped a mile in surprise too. 

“I’m leaving,” Nico answered Kayla. She hesitated before coming to his bedside with a shake of her head. 

“You shouldn’t leave yet, Will or Rosa have to clear you…” she trailed off, probably because Nico stood up ignoring her. She sighed and picked up the covers from the floor. 

“He said three days, it’s been three days, I’m leaving,” he said. She didn’t argue, an I-don’t-get-paid-enough-for-this look on her face. Which Nico knew was fair enough, they didn’t get paid at all. 

“Just be careful Nico,” she said, offering him a small smile. He didn’t really know how to respond to that, so he clipped his sheathed weapon to his belt, tied up his shoes, and left the infirmary. It was only an hour or so past dawn, most of the campers were still asleep or keeping quiet and to themselves as they set about their tasks. Nico walked down the path, not sure where he was going, but grateful to be moving. He wasn’t much of an outdoorsy person, or even a fan of the sun, but he felt a little lighter and a little freer to be walking through Camp Half-Blood again.   
Before Nico could form a coherent decision, he found himself standing at the edge of the strawberry fields. The fields smelled sweet on the early morning, warm, summer breeze, and Nico reached out to pick one off the vine. 

“Don’t let Mr. D see you do that.” Nico jumped, nearly dropping the strawberry from his fingers. He peered through the leaves and saw Will sitting between the rows of plants, cross-legged and looking right back at Nico with a small smile on his face. His hair was golden in the early morning light, picking up the faint freckles on his nose, his blue eyes nearly glittering. He had a purple flower behind his ear, a second one in his hand as if he’d been fiddling with it. Nico put the strawberry in his mouth and straightened up. He supposed he could have said something to Will, but outside of the infirmary, Nico felt a little tongue-tied.   
“If you crouch, you can crawl through directly where you are,” Will said. Nico realised that it was an invitation to join him and after only a very brief pause, Nico dropped to his knees and crawled through a hole in the vines. He came out the other side, eye to eye with Will who had leaned forward to watch. 

“Hello,” Nico said, pulling his legs under him and sitting down next to the blonde. He had on a bright orange camp shirt over torn jeans, his usual attire outside of scrubs. 

“Good morning Sunshine,” Will said, smiling warmly at the blush that crept up Nico’s pale cheeks. 

“I’m not…” Nico waved his hand, looking for the correct word, but he couldn’t find it in Italian or English. “Um, sunshiny?” He decided. Will laughed, leaning back on one hand and twirling his purple flower. 

“No, I guess not, but your blush is very cute so, if you don’t mind, I will continue to call you Sunshine,” he answered. The way he said it, so easy and warm, Nico couldn’t find it in him to say that he did mind. Probably because he didn’t, not really. 

“Okay,” Nico agreed quietly. Will’s eyebrow lifted in surprise, but he didn’t comment. 

“I was wondering how long it would take you to break free of the infirmary,” Will said. “Clearly you weren’t planning on waiting for me.” 

“Uh no,” Nico confirmed. “I wasn’t looking for you either,” he admitted. Will’s smile was beautiful and soft, Nico’s stomach felt squirmy and filled with butterflies. 

“I didn’t think you would, but I am glad you found me anyhow,” he said softly. Nico didn’t blush this time, but he wanted to. 

“You’re a cliché,” Nico told him, pointing at the flower behind his ear and in his hand. Will looked decidedly amused at this as he smirked, blue eyes dancing. 

“What would you know about clichés? You were born in the forties, frozen in time, and then ran feral in the Labyrinth and the Underworld for a couple of years.” Will was clearly teasing, and Nico wasn’t sure how to react other than to bump his shoulder against the taller boy and look down at his own crossed legs. 

“Maybe so, but I know you’re a cliché to be sitting in a field with a flower in your hair,” Nico said. Will giggled and tapped him on the cheek with the flower. 

“Okay, so I’m a cliché right now, why is that a problem?” He asked. Nico looked at him out of the corner of his eye and shook his head. He was so bright and beautiful, Nico swallowed against his dry mouth. 

“I didn’t say it was a problem,” he said. Will looked pleased by this and plucked a third flower out of the ground near his knee. 

“May I?” He asked, waving the flower in front of Nico’s face. His gut reaction was to lean away, snap at him, push the flower out of his hand, but when he looked closely at Will, at his smiling mouth and glittering eyes, he realised he didn’t want to. He kept eye contact with Will and dropped his head in a hesitant nod. Will very gently untangled a lock of Nico’s hair, brushing his cheek as he did so, and pushed it back so he could slide the stem of the flower behind Nico’s ear. Will cupped Nico’s cheek, clearly appreciating the pink blush and the purple flower on his pale skin and in his black hair. “You’re cute,” he decided, leaning away again. The way he said it made it sound like he was claiming Nico’s cuteness as his own, and Nico let it slide. He wasn’t even willing to argue and say that he wasn’t cute, he was too distracted by everything else. 

“And you’re beautiful.” The words fell out of Nico’s mouth before he’d even thought about them properly, and he wished he could swallow them back. He considered opening a hole in the ground and falling back down to his father’s kingdom, but he stopped himself when he realised that it was Will’s turn to go red. 

“You think so, huh?” He asked. Nico smiled, maybe for the first time that day, and nodded at him. 

“Yeah, I do think so,” he confirmed. 

“Well that’s good,” Will said, shuffling closer into Nico’s space. Nico was fine with that. Will was leaning on his hand where it was planted behind Nico. Nico felt shy, but he leaned into Will, feeling comfortable tucked into his side. Will sighed and lifted his flower in front of them, twirling it between his thumb and index finger. 

“Perché non hai…” Nico trailed off when he saw the amused and confused look on Will’s face. 

“English?” Will suggested. Nico huffed a sigh, frustrated that he’d gotten distracted. 

“Why aren’t you scared of me?” He asked. Will grinned and used his nose to nudge his cheek. 

“You have a flower in your hair Lord of Darkness, it’s hardly terrifying,” he said. Nico smiled and shook his head, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them. 

“You put the flower there,” he murmured. 

“Ah,” Will said, as if Nico had just proved his point. “You let me put a flower in your hair. Sounds to me like perhaps you aren’t so scary.” 

“Maybe I just like you,” Nico said quietly. He turned his head to look at Will who winked at him. 

“Counting on it Sunshine,” he said. He was flirting, Nico knew, but what he should do with that was lost on him. He rested his chin on his knees again and looked straight ahead at the vines. He felt Will move, leaning ever closer, and then the petals of his flower were pressed to the corner of Nico’s lips. Nico looked at Will out of the corner of his eye and nearly fell sideways when Will kissed the flower so that the only thing between their lips was the frail, fragile petals of the bloom. Nico’s heart stuttered to a stop in his chest and his brain short-circuited for a moment. Before, all Nico could smell was the strawberries, but now he could smell the warm, soapy, clean scent that followed Will everywhere. Nico breathed in deeply and let it out slowly, not wanting to move because that would mean Will would move, but it didn’t matter because Will pulled back, letting the flower fall to the ground between them. Will didn’t move far, just enough to make breathing easier, and Nico turned his face to look at him again. 

“What was that for?” He asked, proud that his voice didn’t shake or hitch. 

“Because maybe I like you too,” Will said. Nico smiled at him, not surprised by this statement, and yet still feeling thrown. Nico’s heart was hammering in his chest, demanding attention, demanding Nico do something, but he just didn’t know how. Nico didn’t like not knowing how to get what he wanted. He was braver than this, he wasn’t supposed to be reduced to nerves, he was a powerful demigod and he was not going to fall to pieces because a pretty boy kind of kissed him. 

“Do you need a flower to kiss me?” Nico asked, lifting his eyebrow in challenge as he stared back at Will. The blonde grinned at him, lifting his hand from the ground to put it on Nico’s hip. 

“There’s the Nico I know,” he said, drawing Nico closer with a gentle touch under his chin. Nico’s entire body felt like it was on fire, out of control and all consuming, but when their lips met properly, the flames were drawn into his stomach and stayed there. Nico realised, embarrassingly enough, that he didn’t actually know how to kiss and he was about to pull away and apologise or maybe just melt into Will’s shadow to his cabin. Will didn’t give him a chance, as if knowing what he was about to do, he held onto Nico just a little bit tighter and smiled against his mouth. 

“Don’t even think about it, Lord of Darkness,” he murmured. 

“Okay,” Nico agreed. He angled his face to press their lips together again and Will sighed in contentment as he pulled him as close as this awkward, sitting-next-to-each-other position would let them be. Nico felt Will shift a moment before he fell backwards, Nico getting pulled on top of him. If anyone ever asked Nico, he would deny it until he died, but he giggled as they fell. Will grinned and Nico hid his face against his neck, blushing furiously. Will wrapped one arm around his waist and buried the other in Nico’s hair. 

“Absolutely terrifying,” Will teased. Nico groaned and made to get off him, but he only got as far as lifting his head before Will was holding him a little bit tighter. “No, please stay,” he said. Nico scrunched his nose as he looked down at the sunshiny boy beneath him. 

“Can I kiss you again?” He asked. Will’s eyes went a little wider, but he nodded his head and guided Nico until their mouths touched again. Nico’s flames spurred to life in his stomach again, and he was nearly smiling too hard to kiss properly, but he made it work. Or at least he hoped he did. At the very least, he’d be willing to practice kissing with Will until the next threat of the end of the world. Knowing their luck though, that would be within the year.   
After what felt like forever, and also not enough time, Will broke the kiss and nudged their noses together. 

“I should go rescue Kayla from the infirmary, she has archery practice in like twelve minutes and if I’m late she might use me as the target,” he said. Nico swallowed his complaints, and instead came up with a useful solution. 

“We kiss for ten more minutes, then I shadow travel us to the infirmary,” he suggested. Will laughed, shaking his head. 

“You’ll pass out if you shadow travel across camp with me as passenger,” he said. Nico knew it was a possibility, it would take a little while longer until his powers returned completely, especially without Reyna’s strength sharing abilities. 

“Probably,” he agreed, smirking. “So… I’ll be your first patient for the day.” 

“That’s a terrible idea,” Will said. He didn’t say no, in fact he smiled and reached around to touch his hand to Nico’s. After a moment, he nodded his head and put his arm back around him. “You’re not about to melt into a puddle of shadow forever, so okay,” he agreed, shaking his head as If he couldn’t believe he was agreeing. 

“Besides, if I pass out then maybe I can get a note from my doctor to get out of climbing that infernal lava wall,” Nico said. Will laughed again and Nico kissed the sound from his mouth. 

“I will write you a note,” he agreed before wrapping his legs around Nico and rolling them to pin Nico under him in the dirt. Nico giggled again and clung to Will’s shoulders, his cheeks warm as he stared up at the affectionate look on his face.   
They kissed for ten more minutes, although how either of them was paying any attention to the time, neither of them had any idea. It was gentle and unhurried, patient and careful. When the time was up, Nico held on a little bit tighter, smiled up at Will and dissolved into Will’s shadow, bringing Will with him.   
They landed on the steps of the infirmary and Nico was unsurprised to find that he was immediately light-headed, and his knees were shaking. Will scooped him up in a fireman’s hold and kissed Nico’s cheek gently. 

“I didn’t pass out,” Nico grumbled, but he didn’t have the energy to struggle out of his arms. 

“No, you didn’t, but you were about to fall,” Will said, pushing the door open with his foot and taking Nico into the near empty infirmary. There were only two other patients in the infirmary and an Apollo medic Nico recognised as Rosa was helping Kayla with a potion or poultice or something of the like. 

“Oh, thank gods, you’re here,” Kayla said, turning around. “What’s the ghost king doing here? I told him to be careful,” she scolded when she caught sight of Nico. Nico felt his chest vibrate with Will’s laugh, but Nico was feeling consciousness slip away. 

“Don’t worry about him, my boyfriend just needs Gatorade and sleep,” he said. 

“Boyfriend?” Nico asked, well more like slurred. Will hummed his agreement and deposited Nico back on his old sickbed. Having a boyfriend sounded like a dream come true, especially if that boyfriend was Will Solace, but he did have a reputation to uphold. “Annoying,” he grumbled, rolling onto his side and curling up around his pillow. He felt Will’s hand in his hair, a reassuring touch, and he heard Will’s laugh, before everything went dark. 

Nico wasn’t out for long, and when he woke, Will and his sister Rosa were playing cards, sitting cross-legged across from each other on a spare cot. Both of the other patients were asleep so when Nico moved, both the medics looked over immediately. 

“Hey Underworld,” Rosa said, but there was no malice in her teasing. 

“There’s Gatorade on the table next to you Shadow Man,” Will added, nodding at the bottle. Nico took it and drank a few mouthfuls, before pulling himself upright. 

“None of the nicknames any of you use is unique, I’ve heard them all before,” Nico pointed out. Rosa flicked a card at Will, clipping him in the cheek. 

“Boyfriend was a new one,” she said. Nico kept his smile at bay and rolled his eyes. Will gave him a knowing look, as if he could tell how much Nico liked being called his boyfriend. Nico scowled at him in return, which just made Will grin. What was with this guy? Even Rosa had leaned a little back as if Nico’s scowl made her wary. Nico sighed and relaxed, he didn’t want to make Rosa distrust him, she seemed kind enough. Rosa relaxed too, leaning closer to her brother and stage whispering.   
“Are you sure you want this one?” 

“Yep,” Will said. Rosa shrugged and looked back at her cards. Nico narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be climbing the lava wall?” He asked her, remembering she was in the same scheduled slot as him. She flicked her blue eyes at him over the top of her cards and tilted her head, surveying him curiously. Nico surveyed her right back. Her eyes were pale blue, nearly grey unlike Will’s bright blue, and Nico could tell just by the way she held herself that she was incredibly intelligent. This, paired with her curly blonde hair, she reminded Nico of Annabeth. She had a glow to her though, the same shine to her cheeks and in her eyes that all of the Apollo children did, as if their father the sun God had given them an unintentional blessing. On Will it made him approachable and endearing, in Nico’s opinion, but on Rosa it was slightly intimidating and Nico wasn’t sure what to make of that. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be climbing the lava wall?” She returned. Nico gestured at the blankets on his lap.

“I’m in the infirmary,” he pointed out. She looked around the room they were in and gave him an exaggerated look of surprise. 

“I, too, am in the infirmary,” she said. 

“Yes, but I’m sick,” he shot back. Rosa covered her mouth with the top of her fist and fake-coughed. 

“Oh, look at that, so am I,” she said. Her lip quirked up in a small smile and Nico realised that, in the brief banter, she’d accepted him and his relationship with her brother. Which led Nico to a knew line of thought. 

“Aren’t you two the best healers at camp?” He asked. They shifted uncomfortably, the pair of blonde siblings, which Nico thought was a trait they didn’t share with their godly parent. Nico had met Apollo; he wasn’t one to be humble or modest. 

“Maybe,” Rosa relented, and Will nodded slowly. 

“Then why are you both here at the same time when there’s only, well, three patients and no severe crisis? Shouldn’t you be on alternating shifts?” He asked. Rosa rolled her eyes up and looked hard at the ceiling and Nico wondered if it was because she couldn’t quite believe the son of the dead would have the audacity to question the workings of a place of healing. Which was why he was surprised by her response. 

“I like him better when he’s unconscious,” she said before looking at Will. “You told me he was quiet,” she accused. Nico snorted and Will grinned at his sister. 

“I said he was moody,” Will corrected. 

“Hey!” Nico protested. Rosa smirked again, shaking her head. 

“Well you are,” Will said. Nico opened his mouth to protest again, but Rosa interrupted, clearly more equipped to keep the peace than Nico had expected. 

“Usually we would be working alternating shifts,” Rosa said. “I just…” she trailed off, her eyes sliding over to one of the sleeping patients. Nico didn’t know who it was, nor could he tell by the shape of the person hidden almost entirely by the blanket. Their head was also under their pillow which didn’t make it any easier to guess. 

“She has a crush,” Will said, as if the look on Rosa’s face hadn’t given that away. Rosa punched Will in the arm anyway, but he didn’t even flinch, just laughed and pulled a face at her. “Just means she won’t leave unless she has to.” 

“You can’t talk Solace,” Rosa said, looking over at Nico. That peaked Nico’s interest, he raised his eyebrows at Will who just shrugged. 

“What does that mean?” He asked. Will opened his mouth to talk, but like last time Rosa interrupted. 

“Means that he often came in and out to check on you, even when his shift was over and now he can let me do the same,” she answered. Nico felt warm and cared about, a new feeling, but one he wouldn’t mind getting used to. He didn’t think anyone had really checked on him since he was small, since Bianca. 

“You teased me about it though, just returning the favour,” Will said. Rosa smiled at that, the fond sisterly smile that made Nico miss both Bianca and Hazel, and even Reyna a little bit too. 

“Fair enough,” she agreed. They both looked back at Nico, as if to check he was still there and hadn’t melted into the shadows. Nico didn’t think he could, even if he wanted to. What was bizarre, he didn’t think he wanted to. 

“Your boyfriend is about to pass out again,” Rosa noted. It was almost as if her words had brought on a dizzy spell and Nico had to blink blurriness from his eyes. 

“Would appear that way,” Will agreed, getting to his feet. He helped Nico lie back down, just as his vision swam and he fell back into darkness. 

Next time when Nico awoke, the room was filled with the bright, hot light of noon. His stomach growled impatiently at him and Nico decided that was probably what had woken him. He pushed himself up and saw that only one patient was in the room this time, the one buried under their blankets and pillow, and Will was going through paperwork at the desk in the corner. Nico could hear soft singing and ukulele music coming from the porch outside the infirmary and he leaned over to look out the window to see Rosa sitting on the steps with the instrument. 

“Hey Sunshine,” Will said. Nico leaned back into his pillow and shook his head. 

“Are all the Apollo kids walking clichés?” He asked, gesturing at Rosa and her ukulele. Will pulled a face at him as he crossed the room.

“Don’t be mean,” he scolded. 

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing!” Nico complained. “She’s good,” he added, for safe measure. 

“She is, yeah,” he agreed. “Anyway, promise me no shadow traveling for another day or so and you can leave the infirmary,” Will told him. Nico hesitated. He did want to go and eat lunch, and he did want to get started on redecorating the vampire-esque Hades cabin, but he kind of… really didn’t want to leave Will’s company. 

“I… um…” Nico searched for an excuse to stay, but Will’s laugh caught him off guard. 

“Come on, let’s get lunch,” he said, extending his hand. 

“Together?” Nico checked. Will nodded, his eyebrow raised as if Nico was being particularly dense, and wiggled his fingers in a grabby gesture. Nico smiled and put his hand in Will’s,   
letting him pull him to his feet. 

“You hungry?” Will asked. 

“Yes,” Nico groaned. One thing he was grateful for, his appetite had slowly been returning and he would be happy if he never saw a pomegranate again. Happy… what a new concept for Nico, one he’d not expected he’d find again. He cut a sideways look at the blonde walking beside him, guiding him out of the infirmary towards the sunshine and food. Happy. He liked happy. 

“You sure you don’t want to come get food? They’ll be asleep for another hour at least,” Will asked Rosa, turning at the bottom of the stairs to look up at her. She put the instrument down beside her and shook her head at her brother.

“No, I’ll stay,” she said. Will didn’t question it, and Nico sure as Hades wasn’t about to. 

“I’ll bring you some food in a bit then,” Will told her. She said her thanks and waved them off, before disappearing into the infirmary in a whirl of orange and blonde, the door closing securely behind her. “Come on,” Will told Nico, pulling him out of the shadow of the porch and into the bright afternoon light. Nico tried not to wince, but it was a lot brighter now than when he’d first left in the morning. Will looked up, directly into the sunlight and didn’t even look uncomfortable. 

“Does the sun really not effect you at all?” Nico asked as they walked towards the dining pavilion. Will lowered his gaze to Nico and didn’t even have the grace to blink rapidly. 

“Gift from Dad, I guess. We don’t burn, we can look directly into the sunlight…”

“Photosynthesise?” Nico added drily. Will rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. 

“More Demeter kids’ thing, don’t you think?” He answered. Nico had a vision of Katie and Miranda Gardiner planting their siblings in the dirt at lunch time and burst out laughing. Will looked pleased. 

Yeah, Nico liked happy.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want, you can also follow me on TikTok (@raeganlei) where I post cosplay and book related videos!! 
> 
> Also follow me on tumblr for more fandom s**t or to talk to me!   
> My urls are:  
> @shippinggayandallthatjazz   
> @tsc-living  
> @andrew-is-foxy
> 
> Kudos/comments are appreciated, and constructive criticism is welcome!


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